Teachers as curriculum makers : intentions, settings and challenges associated with integrating programming into schools

In March 2017, programming was introduced in the Swedish school curriculum. The reform was formally enacted in July 2018. Research shows that teachers enacting curriculum reform practices encounter various challenges. For this particular reform, few teachers had prior experience of programming, and research further suggests that programming is difficult to teach and learn. It is therefore important to study teachers’ perceptions and experiences of what they should teach, why, and how, as this can provide valuable insight into how new policies influence teachers’ work, and how new policies are implemented. This thesis explores circumstances that may influence teachers’ integration of programming in school mathematics and technology education and consists of three studies. Study 1 and 3 draw on teachers’ perceptions and experiences collected before and after formal enactment of the reform. Study 2 draws on textual data from formal curriculum documents. The studies address three questions: (1) What challenges do teachers perceive prior to the introduction of programming? (2) What message about programming is communicated in the intended curriculum? (3) How do teachers transform programming into teaching content in technology education and what challenges do they face? The results show that teachers face several intrinsic and extrinsic challenges during the process of integrating programming in their teaching. A perceived lack of professional knowledge and understanding of programming among the teachers emerged as a prominent challenge both prior to and more than two years into the reform. Additional challenges are related to teaching materials, time for preparation and professional development. In technology education, teachers mainly see programming as a medium to explore and understand technological systems and construction work. They are uncertain of what programming means in terms of practices and concepts, and about learning progression and assessment. The results further reveal that the curriculum texts are sparse on details about what programming knowledge entails. Important strategic decisions are left entirely to the teachers without any clear guidance. In addition, the results indicate that many technology teachers work in isolation and that interdisciplinary work around programming, as intended in the curriculum, is generally lacking. It is concluded that there is a risk of inequality among schools and that the children’s experience of programming becomes fragmented, despite good intentions. The current implementation model needs to be improved, and this thesis presents two possible actions